Sheet-guiding means



l Sept. 14 1926.

5. H. PLUM, 2D., ET AL.

SHEET GUIDING MEANS Filed Sept. 5,

@woe/Mbo@ Patented Sept. '14, 1926.

unir-ED STATE-.s

PATENT QFFICE.

S. HAINES PLUM, 2D, 0F MADISON, AND ARTHUR J'. G-RIGGS, OE NEWARK, NEW JER- SEY, ASSIGNORS 'DO AMERICAN TYPE, FOUNDERS COMPANY, CQRPORATIQN OF JERSEY.

SHEET-GUIDING MEANS,

Application led September 5, 1925. Serial No. 54,638.

i rlhis invention relates to improvements in sheet guiding means. More particularly the invention relates to sheet guiding means to lie-used in connection with automatic 'feeders for platen presses, although not especially limited thereto. o l

V The object'of the invention is to provide sheet guiding means whereby to guide the sheet tobevprin'ted in its vpath toward the platenjand prevent it from contact with the previously sheetas the latter de? livered.

'lheiinvention is disclosed as applied to an automatic feeder of the type disclosed the'. S. vPatent No. 1,476,829 to L. E. liforrison, dated December 11, 1923, and is embodied in sheet guiding means as hereinafter described andas illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- "Figure'l is aside view, with parts in section and other arts removed, of parts of theA feeding r`niedloanism' shown in the said patent. l

Vliigure 2 is a perspective view with parts broken away illustrating certain elements of the invention shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a detail view ofone of the sheet guiding fingers.

In the present instance only so much of a printing press and its feeding mechanism is illustrated as is necessary for complete understanding of the invention. Referring to the drawing the printing press is of the well known Chandler t Price construction and is identified by the frame 3 and platen (j which oscillates on the pivot 5. An auto.x Ina/tic feeder is mounted on the press in accordance. with the said patent and comprises suitablesideA brackets 1S which support a feedy table 2li. The paper 52 is placed on an inciined paper board i0 and rests against suitable stops 50.

The feed table 24 is provided with suitable brackets 82, only one of which is shown 'and a so-calledftransfer table is pivoted be- 't'u'een the brackets 82 and comprises an upper shaftlfside arms 83. anda lower roll offshafti. V

The transfer. table is further provided with paper lsupperts: 108y side, guides 1109. The side guides 109 rest 'uphonhthe` roll oif shaftl A254 and have a horizontal Harigev porjiigfiii.'?f1^sfi iiieii .t0 the "iiiiiieil Shift Si by fi ssii-eri. 39, i The. `fell i eff shift Si, may Gerry suitable rolls 100. It will be understood from the drawing that Figure 2 illustrates only one half of the transfer' table and that in Figure 1 the transfer table is illustrated in section and with parts removed not neces-v sary for the understanding of this invention.

The printed sheet is removed from the rieten by meins Qi' i delivery slipper liil suitably mounted on a reciprocating gripper base 1112.

All of the foregoing described elements are identical with the Corresponding elements shown in the said patent to which reference is hereby made for complete detailed understanding of the operation and construction of the several described parts. For purposes of ready reference. to said patent, the reference numerals used herein are the same as those used in the patent.

The operation of the feeder may be brief! ly set fort-h as follows :.-lVhen the platen is in the sheetl receiving position as shown in full lines, the transfer. table is lowered and a sheet lOl is removed from the pile by any suitable automatic means or otherwise and placed upon the transfer table as shown, from which it then slides down onto the platen againsty the usual paper stops 102 to be printed as theplaten now moves into printing position as shown in dotted lines. When the platen moves down the transfer table is automatically elevated into the position indicated by they dotted line 104 to permit the platen to pass.l

As soon as the platen moves into sheet receiving position the delivery gripper 131 moves. in over the platen and seizes the printed sheet 103 to remove the same in under the feed table after which it is deposited in theiusual manner in a stacking bei i jogging device 110i, ShOWi1-- This Operatioiif 0f the derive and the. means for accomplishing the same are all described in the patent aforesaid. i

.It has been found that certain` kinds or arides Qi rarer have a tendency to curl 0i? henkie is it isis@ t0. the. '1i-laten and 'as ii result therefrom the leiding@@tiefe.Qi the incoming sheet is, apt t@ inierieiewith the delivery edge of the, printed 'sheetor the sheet which isK fed.A to the. platen mayV iso curl' or buckle in its` passage over.. the transf ist, table 1hab it -iii11-i1etiseehith .platin i in proper position to be registered and printed. To overcome this objectionable feature there is in accordance with the present invention provided sheet guiding fingers, usually two being employed and so arranged that they move with the gripper base and extend in. over the platen to prevent the incoming sheet from interfering Awith the printed sheet. As seen in Figure 3 the sheet guiding finger is made of a thin, narrow piece of spring steel bent to form a relatively rigid base having a slot 11 and then forming an upright relatively rigid supporting arm 12 bent at right angles to the base l0. At 155 the material is further bent to form a very much longer yielding guide finger lll extending parallel to the base l0.

The guide linger is adjustably placed on the gripper base by means of a bolt 15 in the position shown in Figure 1 with the guiding portion 1st extending towards the platen.

The guiding finger is guided in its operation by two shafts, one of which 16 is suitably supported in fixed position on the papersupport 40. The other shaft 17 is carried by a plate 19 secured to the side arms of the transfer table. Both shafts are rotatably mounted in their' respective supporting means and extend across the feeder from side to side thereof.

In operation the guiding fingers are secured to the gripper base as shown with the guiding portion 14 above the supporting shaft 16. During operation as the gripper base moves towards the platen the guiding fingers will he moved in over the platen as shown and will he depressed or deflected by the shaft 17 which moves downward with the transfer table and thus not only prevents the guiding fingers from interferingwith the transfer table but also deflects said fingers to form a downwardly inclined support at an angle to the surface of the platen and upon which support the incomingsheet 101 will slide down into printing position against the paperstops 1027 thus preventing the leading edge of said sheet from contacting with the printed sheet.

As the platen now moves down into print ing position the gripper base moves to the left in the drawing with the gripper and at the Asame time withdraws the paper guide ngers from the platen. At this time the transfer table is elevated so that the shaft 17'is removed from the guide fingers permitting the latter to be straightened out due to the inherent springiness of the material and as shown in dotted lines in the drawing the-guide fingersmove in under the feed tablein a straight line. 1lt-'-will.'therefore, be seen thatwhen a slieet' is Vto be fedtothe platen the guide -ngersfare invedin': over the platen and automatically deflected to form a temporary support for said sheet and when the platen moves into printing position the sheet guidin g fingers are withdrawn by the movement oli-the gripper base and at the same time permitted to str ighten out and thus be auton'latically lifted from the platen ano away from under the incoming sheet, it being rmderstood by those skilled in the art that the delivery stroke of the gripper carriage is very rapid so that the guide lingers are rapidly removed from the platen so as not to interfere therewith.

As a further aid in feeding a sheet to thc platen the transfer table is provided with inclined upper fixed sheet guides which are suitably secured to the side guides 109 by means of a clip 21 and a lip 22 secured to said side guides by a wing nut 23. The

upper fined guides only one of which is 'i' shown form a channel between themselvesI and the base of the side guides and direct the leadingl edge of the sheet downwardly toward and into contact with the roll off shaft from which the sheet then passes onto the sheet guiding ngers and the platen. The upper fred guides 20 are of particular assistance when thin sheets are being fed in that they prevent the edges of the sheet from being blown upwards from the transfer table.

it will be understood that the sheet guiding lingers 14. are suitably spaced on the f 'ipp-er base and that two or more may be That the guiding portion l il' desired. constantly tends to straighten itself ii parallel to the base l0 and is only momentarily and gently' deflected into guiding position over the platen. Also that by means of the slotted hase l0 thc guiding fingers may be positioned in proportion to the length of the sheet to be printed.

The foregoing is thought to fully explain the invention and the advantages to be derived therefrom. It has been found that the sheet guiding means as herein disclosed prevent the curling or buckling of the incoming sheet and serve both as a support for said sheet to more surely guide it into printing position and also serve as a means lf3' for separating the imprinted from the printed sheet when the platen is in sheet receiving position. Vilhile the invention has been disclosed with particular reference to the patent aforesaid it will nevertheless u b e 'understood that it is not exclusively limited thereto but may be used in connection with other printing mechanism.

11We clam 2- 1. In a press the combination with a platposition, means for flexing said fingers when 13g' for moving `the same in over the platen when the latter is in sheet receiving position and means on said transfer table for flexing said paper guiding lingers downwardly towards the platen to provide supports for a sheet to be passed from said transfer table to the platen.

3. In a press the combination with a platen and paper transfer table as described, of a plurality of paper guiding fingers, means for moving the latter towards and away from the platen and means on said paper transfer table for automatically positioning said paper guiding fingers in a downwardly inclined operative position with respect to the platen to uide a sheet passing from said transfer ta `le to the platen.

l. In a press the combination with a platen, of means for separating a sheet being fed to the platen from a previously printed sheet to be removed from the platen, said separating means comprising a plurality of relatively long paper guiding fingers, means for moving said lingers in over the platen above a previously printed sheet.

thereon when said platen is in open position and means for bending said fingers downwardly towards the platen to support a sheet being fed thereto to separate it from said previously printed sheet on the platen.

5. In a press the combination with a platen, of means for separating a sheet being fed to the platen from a sheet about to be removed from the platen comprising a plurality of paper guiding lingers adapted to be positioned in over the platen above the sheet thereon at the moment the said movements of the sheet takes place, said paper guiding fingers forming a guiding support for the sheet which is being fed to the platen.

6. In a press the combination with a platen, paper guiding means therefor comprising a plurality of paper guiding fingers, means for moving the latte-r towards and away from the platen, means for flexing a port-ion of said fingers downwardly towards ci the platen said lingers are being moved towards the same and means for supporting the flexed portion of said fingers when they are moved away. from the platen.

7. Paper guiding fingers of the character described comprising a thin narrow piece of material bent at one end to form an upright portion and a base, the other .relatively larger portion of said fingers being adapted to be momentarily flexed.

8. The combination with paper side guides comprising a relatively lateral portion and a relatively vertical portion, of paper guiding means comprising guiding members and means for attaching the same to the said paper side guides in an inclined position with respect to the said relatively lat-eral portion.

9. The combination with paper side guides comprising a relatively lateral portion and a relatively vertical portion, of paper guiding means comprising guiding members and means for detachably attaching the same to the said paper side guides to the said relatively vertical portion thereof in an inclined position with respect to the said relatively lateral portion.

S. HAINES PLUM, 2D. ARTHUR J. GRIGGS. 

